Mackie's speaks out on 'fake' ice cream report

a reporter

A north east firm has welcomed a report that reveals large numbers of supermarket and branded vanilla ice creams contain no milk, cream or even vanilla.

Mackie’s of Scotland has lauded news of the investigation by Which? and has spoken out stating that consumers deserve better quality products.

For more than 30 years the firm has produced ice cream from the family dairy farm in Westertown – where it has been calling for a better understanding about the ingredients used in many well known ice creams.

Kirstin McNutt, Development Director with Mackie's, said: “While everyone is fighting a war against fake news, we’ve been trying to get the word out about fake ice cream.

“It’s really disappointing to see how many brands are cutting corners and cost when it comes to making ice cream but, quite frankly, it’s not something we’re surprised by.

“Making everything on our family farm, we use top quality fresh milk and cream from our cows. We know that that’s one of the things which sets us apart from the competition – the difference in taste is huge.

“We’d advise that you always read the label. Many consumers trust the packaging and the name of the product without checking the ingredients - which means they may feel duped when they realise that some ice creams do not even contain cream”

Commenting on the absence of vanilla in many ice cream recipes, Mackie’s has said that this is an issue that has caused confusion in the industry for decades.

Kirstin added: “It might seem strange to many, but real vanilla is an ingredient that is often missing in ‘vanilla ice cream’.

“In the gelato homeland of Italy there’s a clear distinction between traditional cream-flavoured ice cream and vanilla ice cream, but in the UK consumers tend to call any white ice cream ‘vanilla’.

“There is also some controversy on what vanilla is – real, natural, essence or an artificially made flavour - all of which can cause great confusion among consumers.

“Our Traditional ice cream contains little more than milk, cream and sugar and it’s by far our best seller. But the great taste simply comes from the fresh milk and cream ingredients, most of which we can get from our dairy herd on our family farm.